Nail stripper



y 1936- I E. c. FOLLETT ET AL 2,041,057

NAIL STRIPPER.

Filed Oct. 9, 1954 Patented May 19, 1936 UNITED STATES NAIL STRIPPER Elroy O. Follett and Albert W. Heater, Newberg, Oreg.

Application October 9, 1934, Serial No. 747,597

12 Claims.

Our invention relates to portable magazinetype nail holders, so-called nail strippers which are adapted to be fastened to the users body in convenient position to withdraw nails arranged in alinement, or in so-called strips, said type of magazine nail holders or strippers permits the withdrawal of a substantial number of nails arranged in alinement with their points downwardly and with their heads engaged by a slot in the nail-holding container. Said container is pivotally mounted and thus the tipping or pivoting of said container upon its base causes a quantity of nails to be cascaded over the slot and. a certain proportion of the nails to fall thru said slot to be engaged by their heads. The general type of device to which our invention relates is shown in our United States Patent No. 1,945,144 issued January 30, 1934. Our present invention is a direct improvement over .the device shown in said patent.

One of the principal objects of our invention is to provide a container in a portable nail stripper of this character in which the bulk of .the nails is carried in a storage compartment and a relatively small proportion are discharged therefrom into an auxiliary feeding compartment when the container is tipped. The slot is arranged in the center of the floor of the auxiliary feeding compartment and thus because but a few nails are moved over said slot at a time, they do not become interlaced to prevent their separation and alinement.

This object is preferably attained in a container in which said two compartments are separated by a pivotally mounted apertured finger. Said finger functions to limit effectively .the number of nails which can be discharged from the storage compartment into the auxiliary feeding compartment and which finger roughly alines said discharged quantity of nails with the slot. Said pivoted finger permits the return to the storage compartment of those nails not engaged by the slot in said auxiliary compartment.

A further feature of our invention is to make said slot adjustable without disturbing its position in the center of the auxiliary feeding compartment. Said slot is also provided with lateral offset flanges extending externally of the container, which flanges function to guide the operator so his fingers will be automatically directed to the nails. Said flanges also function to maintain the nails in exact alinement and to prevent their becoming crossed when arranged in said slot, this resulting from the added effective thickness given to said slot'by said offset flanges.

A further feature of our invention is to arrange the hopper, into which additional nails are placed tofill said container, in the roof :of the auxiliary feeding compartment, which hopper is thus separated from the storage compart- 5 ment by the pivotally mounted apertured finger, which finger separates said chambers in said container from each other.

Other and more specific features of our invention are hereinafter described with reference to 10 the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section thru the container of our invention showing said container at rest against its stop;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of said parts with the 15 container tipped to discharge a limited quantity of nails from the storage compartment into the auxiliary compartment;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken substantially on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.;

Fig. 4 is a larger scaled detail view of the stripping slot and devices associated therewith; and

Fig. 5 is a section taken in a plane similar to that in Fig. 3 thru the slot in a modification of our invention.

Our nail stripper device comprises a base a, which is preferably made of sheet metal and which is curved slightly to conform to the contour of the wearers body. Said base is provided with several apertures a thru which straps may 30 be fastened to secure said base across the chest of the wearer, where it is in most convenient position for use.

A trunnionb is laterally supported bysaid base and carries a container 0 thereon. Said trunnion 35 extends thru a grooved section a2 of said base. In section, said grooved portion is preferably semi-circular and a slotted aperture a3 extends transversely of said grooved portion. The trunnionis preferably shouldered or provided .with a 40 spacer at b and is provided with twosemi-spherical washers (1, one arranged at each side of the base a and secured in position bya nut d secured. to the threaded'portion D2 of .said trunnion.

This construction permits the pivot axis ex- 45 tending thru the trunnion and defining the axis upon which the container .0 turns tobe adjusted thru a substantially wide range of .radial movement. The adjustment in said pivot axis is desir-' able so that the container may move in a vertical plane and to be adjusted to compensate for individual characteristics and positions of the wearer.

The container 0 preferably is .U- or V-shaped insection with the top covered. The interior of f? 1": 3 said container is divided into two compartments, one a storage compartment e and the other an auxiliary filling compartment f. Separating said compartments is a pivoted finger g, the upper end 9' of said finger encircling the trunnion b and the lower portion 92 bearing against the floor of the container 0. In the auxiliary filling compartment a relatively long slot h or raceway is formed between the. two adjustable members i. Said'membersi are curved to conform generally tothe sweep of the floor 'of the container and are laterally adjustable by elongated holesi therein thru whichsaid members 1'. are secured Two" to the sides of the container 0 by bolts i2. of said members i-are provided so-that the slot h can be adjusted in width to accommodate various.

sized nails and yet said adjustment will not cause the slot to be moved out of alinement with the I lowermost portion of the container, which is at the lateral center of the floor thereof.

.The edges'of' the relatively adjustable members adjacent theslot h are formed into outwardly projecting flanges or rolls a. As is shown inthe drawing, said flanges may be rolled about acentral core a", as is shown in Fig. 3 of said drawing, or may extend laterally downwardly from said slot in parallel sections, as is shown in Fig. 5 thereof as 7'2. In either case said flanges provide external ridges for guiding the nailers fingers to thenails arranged in the slot, and also maintain said nails in alinement with each other andprevent them from becoming crossed; as they might if the slot were only as thick as the thickness of the material making up the container 0.. Said flanges also prevent the operator from gripbase a and underliesrthe container c.- The con-' tainer at rest bears against said step with the containerdepending so thatsome of the nails are arranged. point first thru the slot h and the remainder are returned. to the storage compart-' ment e, as is indicated in Fig. 1. To cushion the blow of the container as it strikes said stop, the latter isprovided with a rubber sleeve m which'cushionsthe blow and deadens the sound of said impact. The operation'of our device is as follows:

The base is strapped to the body of the wearer and because of the fact that the squared endrc2 of the container is heavier it depends until its rests against the stop I. In this position the tapered end 0' is arranged substantially in a horizontal plane with the longitudinal axis of the container depending obliquely downwardly towards said the. head of the nail arranged inwardly from the stop. The pivoted finger 9 depends substantially from its pivot axis and all of the nails 1:. not caughtfby and extending thru the slot hare massed in the square end 02 of said container. The nails n extending thru the slot are'aligned with the head of each succeeding nail overlying end of said slot. {Thus when said nails arewithdrawn from the slots, they are'not in horizontal alinement but they are in vertical alinement and 5'? the head of the nail arrangedclosest to the tip of 2,041,057- V i l the nailers finger underlies the remainder of the. nail heads and thus if the blow of a hammer di. rected toward the head of the outermost nail is slightly misdirected and strikes one of the adjacent nails, still it will drive the outermost nail into position, because the point of said nail lies;

below the point of the adjacent nails. Each time a quantity'of nails, such for example as from two to twelve, is removed from the stripper, the stripper is pulled downwardly and cascades another quantity of nails thru the centrally-arranged aperture g3 in the finger g. 'Said aperture is proportioned to limit the number of nails which will pass therethru to the auxiliary compartment f andsaid aperture g3 preferably is of such width as to prevent nails from passing crosswise into said compartment; This causes nails in passing;v from the storage compartment e to the auxiliary filling compartment f to move head first or point first thru said aperture g3 and they are thus longitudinally alined, more or less, with the slot h, and thus tend to fall into said slot more easily. The limited number of nails permitted to pass into said auxiliary filling compartmenti 1 also tends to eliminate massing or interlacing of the'nails which would prevent them from passingpoint first thru saidvslot into proper alinement. When the container is released. it falls to itsoriginal position and any nails not arranged with their points thru the slot are per-. mitted to fall back into the storage compartment. Thepivoted finger is so arranged and is of such mass asto permit said nails tov pass underneath with little restriction. a

The filling opening is arranged in. the roof .of the. auxiliary filling compartment j and is thus separatedfrom the storage compartment by the pivoted finger g. This tends to prevent nails from falling out of the container through said opening,

The outwardly extending flanges or rolls 7' lying at the sides 'of the sloth are of substantial advantage in guidingthe users fingers to the nails. Said flanges or rolls extend the full 'length of the slot and when the container is arranged as is shown in Fig. 1, said slot ordinarily contains only a small number of 'nails and thus for the major portionof the length of said slot, said nails are absent. The presence of said ridge formed by said flanges or rolls thus indicates that the users fingers are above the nails and he can immediately move them downwardly, that is toward the squared end 02 of the container, until he reaches the nails. user taking his eyes from his work to locate the nails in the container.. vantage for the reason that speed and concentration are both required by a lather or shingler in turning out a profitable dayswork. Said flange or roll, being of substantialthickness, causes the user to grasp the nails by their shanks a substantial distance below the heads thereof, and thus said nails stand up'fromthe thumb'and forefinger or thumb from overlying the head thereof.

- 1-. A nail stripper provided with a'base, a laterally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, an apertured finger dividing said container into two' compartments, one a storage compartment and the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, the

This eliminates the necessity of'the' This is'of substantial ad-V finger a substantial distance'to prevent'the user's floor ofsaid feeding compartment being provided with a slotterminating atone end of said container, said slot being adapted to pass the points of nails but to retain the heads thereof, whereby iii when said container is pivoted about its'trunnion' in one direction a restricted quantity of nails is discharged from the storage compartment into the feeding compartment past the apertured finger and'when said container is moved in the opposite direction to permit all nails notpositioned with their points thru the slot to be returned to the storage compartment.

2. A nail stripper provided with a base, a lat-I erally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, an apertured finger dividing said container into two compartments, one a storage compartment and the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, a filling aperture extending thru the roof of said auxiliary feeding compartment, the floor of said feeding compartment being provided with a slot terminating at one end of said container, said slot being adapted to pass the points of nails but to retain the heads thereof, whereby when-said container is pivoted about its trunnion in one direction a restricted quantity of nails is discharged from the storage compartment into the feeding compartment past the apertured'finger and when said container is moved in the opposite direction to permit allnails not positioned with their points thru the slot to be returned to the storage compartment.

3. A nail stripper provided with a base, a laterally projecting trunnion carried by said baseand a container pivotally mounted thereon, an

apertured finger dividing said container into two compartments, one a storage compartment and the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, the fioor of said feeding compartment being provided with a slot terminating at one end of said container, said slot being adapted to pass the points of nails but to retain the heads thereof, said finger being pivotally mounted in said container upon the trunnion axis, whereby when said container is pivoted about its trunnion in one direction a restricted quantity of nails is discharged from the storage compartment into the feeding compartment past the apertured finger and when said container is moved in the opposite direction to permit all nails not positioned with their points thru the slot to be returned to the storage compartment.

4. A nail stripper provided with a base, a laterally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, an apertured finger dividing said container into two compartments, one a storage compartment and the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, the floor of said feeding compartment being provided with a slot terminating at one end of said container, said slot being adapted to pass the points of nails but to retain the heads thereof, said finger being pivotally mounted in said container upon said trunnion, whereby when said container is pivoted about its trunnion in one direction a restricted quantity of nails is discharged from the storage compartment into the feeding compartment past the apertured finger and when said container is moved in the opposite direction to permit all nails not positioned with their points thru the slot to be returned to the storage compartment.

5. A nail stripper provided with a base, a laterally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, an apertured finger dividing said container into two compartments, one a storage compartment and the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, the floor of said feeding compartment being provided with aislot'terminatingi at one end of said con tainer, said slot being adapted to pass the points of nails but to retain the heads thereof, the aperture in said finger being elongated, the lesser dimension of said aperture being transverse of said'finger and the greater dimension extending longitudinally thereof, whereby when said container is pivoted about its trunnion in one direction a restricted quantity of nails is discharged from the storage compartment into the feeding compartment past the apertured finger and when said container is moved in the opposite direction to permit all nails not positioned with their points thruthejslot to be returned to the storage compartment.

6. A nail stripper provided with a base, a laterally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, an apertured finger dividing said container into two cornpartments, one a storage compartment and the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, the fioor of said feeding compartment being providedwith a slot terminating at one end of said container, said slot being adapted to pass the points of nails but to retain the heads thereof, the aperture in said finger being elongated, the lesser dimension of said aperture being trans- Verseflof said finger and the greater dimension extending longitudinally thereof, the lesser dimension of said slot being substantially less than the length of the nails being stripped, whereby when said container is pivoted about its trunnio'nin one'direction a restricted quantity of nails is discharged from the storage compartment into the feeding compartment past the apertured finger and when said container is moved in the opposite direction to permit all nails not positioned with their points thru the slot to be returned to the storage compartment.

7. A nail stripper provided with a base, a laterally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, an apertured finger dividing said container into two compartments, one a storage compartment and. the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, the fioor of said feeding compartment being provided with a slot terminating at one end of said container, said slot being adapted to pass the points of nails but to retain the heads thereof, the aperture in said finger being elongated, the lesser dimension of said aperture being transverse of said finger and the greater dimension extending longitudinally thereof, the aperture in said finger being alined with the stripping slot extending thru the fioor of said feeding chamber, whereby when said container is pivoted about its trunnion in one direction a restricted quantity of nails is discharged from the storage compartment into the feeding compartment past the apertured finger and when said container is moved in the opposite direction to permit all nails not positioned with their points thru the slot to be returned to the storage compartment, the aperture in said finger causing said nails to be generally alined with said slot when they pass into said feeding chamber.

8. A nail stripper provided with a base, a laterally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, an apertured finger dividing said container into two compartments, one a storage compartment and the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, the floor of said feeding compartment being provided with a slot terminating at one end of said container, said slot being adapted to pass the points a of nails but "to retain' thehe'ads thereof, the; aperture in saidfinger being elongated, the lesser:

' dimension of said aperture being transverse of of the nails being stripped, the aperture in said finger being alined with' the stripping slot extending thru the floor of said feeding chamber,

whereby when said container is pivoted about its trunnion in one direction a restricted quantity of nails is discharged from the storage compartment into the feeding compartment past the apertured finger and when said container is moved in the opposite direction to permit all nails not positioned with their points thrug the slot to be returned to the storage compartment; the aperture in said finger causing said nails to be generally alined with "said slot when they pass into saidfeeding chamber.

9. A nail stripper provided with a base, a laterally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, an apertured finger dividing said container into two compartments, one a storage compartment and the other an auxiliary feeding compartment, the fioor of said feeding compartment being provided with a slot terminating at one end of said container, saidslot being adapted to pass the points of nails but to retain; the heads thereof, said finger being inclined downwardy toward the storage compartment in said container, whereby when said container is pivoted about its trunnion in one direction'a i'es'tri'cted quantity of nails is discharged from the storagej compartment into the feeding compartment 'past the apertured finger and whensaid container ismoved in the opp site direction to permit all nails not positioned with their points thru the slot to be re- 7 turned to the storage compartment.

10. A nail stripper provided with a base, a

laterally projecting trunnion carried by said base and a container pivotally mounted thereon, the floor of said container being provided with a slot terminating at one end of said, container, said slot being adapted to' pass the points of nails but to retain the headsthereof, a resilient clip 10$- ing the end of said slot, said clip lying inwardly of the plane of the ends of the side walls of the 7 container, whereby said side walls guard the edges of the extremities of said clip;

11. A nail stripper provided with a base, a lat-' ALBERT W. HEATER. Q 

